Reunion
by Kristie Goldberg
Summary: This is more a story about those left behind, although it's also J/C. I wrote this some time ago and just redid it. Hope you like it!


Reunion

Looking around at the gathered crowd, she smiled that crooked smile that so many loved. The people in the room were celebrating. The happiness flowed throughout the room into every nook and cranny. The tears that were shed were tears of happiness, finally knowing that the long wait was to soon be over. She was sitting with her two best friends at a table in the corner, with a glass of her favorite wine in front of her. She continued looking out over the people that she now considered family. She thought back over the years to how they had all met.

Their first meeting had been when Starfleet declared Voyager missing. Many of them had made the journey to San Francisco to plead with Starfleet to continue the search. Their pleas had fallen of deaf ears. To them it was a blow. It was as if their loved ones no longer mattered!

Starfleet went ahead with plans to hold a memorial in honor of the Voyager crew. Many of the families attended. Although like her, they felt that their loved ones was still out there somewhere alive. After the memorial they met in Indiana at the Janeway home. After that each year on the date Voyager was declared missing, many would again make the journey to her Indiana home. Each year more and more came. Many other times throughout the year, all or part of them met to celebrate different occasions.

She got to know them all. Over time many went on with their lives. Joe Carey's wife, Sharon, was the first to re-marry, but still she and the children came each year along with her new husband. Larry Trentons's wife remarried next and was soon expecting. They, too, continued to attend.

Her biggest surprise was when Owen and Betty Paris began attending the third year. Owen had aged considerable more than the others in the last three years. Gretchen felt it was because of the guilt he had over the way he had treated Tom.

The Delaney twins' parents came the first two years, but their father was killed in a work related incident the third year. After that, their mother refused to come, until that night when Voyager's EMH managed to get through to Starfleet!

Gretchen remembered that night well. It had been late but she was still up reading. Her terminal began to buzz. She thought for a few moments just to ignore it as the person could leave a message. But, something nagged her that it was important. Turning on the screen, the first thing she saw was Owen's face. Her first thought was that he had tears in his eyes. What had happened?

"Gretchen, they're alive! Oh my god, Gretchen, they are out there! Kathryn, Tom, many of the others! They are alive!" By now the tears were streaming down not only Owen's face but her own. What she had believed all along was now definite!

"Were are they? When will they be home? What happened? How…."

Gretchen saw the look on his face. She quieted as he began to speak. He told her what had happened and how the EMH had managed to get through. He told her everything that he was allowed to say. Finally, he stopped talking and just looked at her. She began to speak.

"Sixty years! We will never see them again! At least we know they are alive. We need to let those who lost their loved ones know. At least they will know for certain now. Will you be coming to the reunion in September? I will invite the Maquis crew family members as well. We are all in this together. It sounds to me like they are working together as one crew. If they can work together on Voyager, we can work together here as well."

They just stared at each other with silly grins and tears streaming down their faces. Gretchen suddenly realized how much this had changed Owen. Before he would not have dared to show emotion to anyone, but here he was letting her see the real Owen.

That reunion everyone showed up as well as the families of many of the Maquis. The Maquis was brought into their fold without incidence, after all they were all in this together. At that reunion Gretchen met her new best friends, Leann, sister of Chakotay and Juan Ayala, father of Mike Ayala.

Leann had been a breath of fresh air. She was highly intelligent and had an unbelievable drive. Her dream was to see Dorvan flourishing again as well as becoming a highly thought of part of the Federation. She spent many hours each month talking with various Federation officials practically begging for their help in the rebuilding. Whenever she was on Earth, she stayed with Gretchen.

Gretchen had taken a liking to Juan from the moment they met. A widower, Juan had a happy, carefree outlook on life. He, like many of the Maquis relatives, had lost much through the years. It had not turned him into a sad, hateful person. It had brought out a kindness that seemed to grow each day. He became Gretchen and Leann's unofficial escort and could often be found at the Janeway farm.

After the next reunion, many of the Starfleet families began helping Leann with her work including Owen Paris. Owen had enlisted the aid of several other high officials. Finally Leann's hard work had begun to pay off.

The families were also working hard to get Starfleet to begin some kind of program to try to get Voyager home faster.

During the next couple of years, the Voyager family, as they called themselves, grew closer and closer. Several of the younger members of the families began to pair off. Soon there began to be weddings between Starfleet and Maquis. They didn't consider themselves that way, instead they considered themselves all family and hoped the Voyager crew was working as well together as they were.

At the last reunion Gretchen looked out over the crowd gathered in her back yard amazed at how much her extended family had grown. They had shared so much together. Her social schedule was amazingly full with luncheons and dinners, weddings, showers, etc. They were a happy group. Only one thing would have made them happier, if only Voyager's crew were there with them. Gretchen knew that Kathryn was doing everything she could to bring her crew home as soon as possible, and now Starfleet had started the Pathfinder Project in hopes of finding them a shorter way home. Hope for them was running high.

Nearly two years to the day that Voyager's EMH had managed to get through, Gretchen walked through the house after a day of having lunch with Betty Paris and Wandi Kim, Harry's mother and then shopping for a baby gift. She had just put down her purse and the present she had purchased when her terminal began to buzz.

Turning it on she saw that it was Owen. "Gretchen, I will be right there. Wait there for me!" He didn't give her time to answer. In just a few minutes he began to materialize on the transporter pad in her study. He was grinning ear to ear as he hugged her tightly.

"I have something you might want to hear!" He walked over to her desk and inserted a clip into the terminal. They heard a lot of static and suddenly a voice.

"Starfleet Command, come in" Gretchen's hand flew to her mouth as tears filled her eyes and began running down her cheeks. Could it be? Was it possible?

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway" Gretchen swayed as Owen grabbed her and held her up as they continued to listen to the message. Much of the message was technical, but Gretchen could read Kathryn's thoughts very well. She knew Kathryn and her crew were alright.

When the transmission was over, Gretchen turned to Owen, "Thank you, thank you so much" She put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Gretchen, they are closer to home that we thought. Twenty-five years more. If we hold on long enough, we will see them again!"

"Then, we will see them again, Owen! We will see them again!" Owen could see the determination in her eyes. He knew for sure that they would both hold on if at all possible.

Before long, the Voyagers were able to send letters to Starfleet. From there the letters were sent on to the families. That was how Leann, Juan and Gretchen found out about Kathryn and Chakotay. After years of denying each other, they finally admitted their love.

One day, in a batch of letters that Voyager had sent, Gretchen received a letter - not from Kathryn, but from Chakotay. He told her how lucky and happy the crew was to have Kathryn as their Captain. Finally, he told her of his love for her daughter He asked Gretchen for permission to marry Kathryn. Gretchen was deeply touched by Chakotay's letter. She knew Kathryn could be a handful, but here was a man willing to take her on! Gretchen loved him instantly. She wrote back to him as soon as she could, knowing that the letter might not even get to him, but hoping that it would!

The next reunion was even happier. There had been infrequent contact with Voyager, but still they had something to hold on to. Each time Voyager was able to chop off a few years from their journey, they celebrated. Everyone was convinced that Kathryn Janeway would find a way to bring Voyager home in much less time than predicted.

Leann and Juan had been staying with Gretchen going over plans for the biggest reunion ever when the terminal beeped. Gretchen turned it on to again see Owen smiling from ear to ear. Without even greeting Gretchen, Owen began talking.

"Who is there with you, Gretchen?" He knew Gretchen often had the two with her and sometimes others.

"Just Leann and Juan. Is something wrong?'

When they heard their names mentioned, they walked over to the terminal as well and stood just slightly behind Gretchen. Owen nodded to them both.

"They're home! They made it! They came through a wormhole out by DS9. They will arrive here on Earth in six days. I imagine you have a lot to do. I will have my assistant send you all the information. All family members are allowed to be there when they land on Starfleet grounds. Help us get the word out, you seem to have a better contact system than we do. See you in six days here at Starfleet!"

Gretchen and Leann fell into each others arms hugging and crying. Juan wrapped his arms around both women. Their loved ones would soon be home! Suddenly, they had a lot to do contacting everyone. Long ago they had set up a system to pass along information and it now served them well.

Gretchen, Juan and Leann now sat at the table waiting with most of the crew's families sitting at tables around them. Soon they were rewarded as Owen and several other Admirals entered the room. Owen spoke for the Admirals.

"We are allowing Voyager to land on the grounds just around the corner from where we are now. They will be landing in ten minutes. If you will follow us outside. We will wait there for them."

The excited crowd followed in an orderly manner, each with their own thoughts. The area was roped off so that they would be a safe distance away. Soon, someone yelled out, "There, up there!"

As her eyes rose to the sky, Gretchen saw the most wonderful sight imaginable. Voyager, although looking a little battered and worn, was descending with her beautiful first born child. She could hardly wait to set eyes on Kathryn. She had missed her so much the past seven years.

A shout went up throughout the crowd as Voyager's landing struts set down firmly on the ground. Soon the engines were shut down and the ramp lowered. A hush fell over the crowd as the first crew members appeared and began the walk down the long ramp. They were met with family as the got to the bottom of the ramp. Naomi and Sam were the first down the ramp as Kathryn didn't want Naomi to be crushed. The crowd watched with joy as Naomi's father took her into his arms and twirled her around. Then, holding Naomi against him in one arm, he pulled Sam against him and kissed her deeply.

Soon many of the other crew came down the ramp and into the waiting arms of family and friends. It was arranged so that every Voyager would have someone meeting them.

Later when Mike Ayala appeared, Juan hugged both women and walked toward his son. The women watched with joy and love as the two men stood together hugging for the first time in more than seven years.

Soon, they were all down but the senior staff. As they began to appear at the top of the ramp a shout went out.

Gretchen and Leann stood arm in arm as they watched silently. First of the senior staff down the ramp was Harry, Tuvok and Seven. All were welcomed into loving arms that had been waiting a very, very long time.

Next was Tom and B'Elanna with Tom carrying a bundle in his arms. They were met halfway down by Owen, who took Tom in his arms in a giant hug being careful of the bundle Tom held. Turning to B'Elanna, Owen hugged her. Then Tom handed Owen the bundle. Owen carefully held the precious baby as he looked at his granddaughter for the first time. He and Tom talked for a moment. Then Owen, with the baby in his arms, took B'Elanna's arm as they made their way down the ramp where Betty waited. She had hurt her back and couldn't make it up the ramp . Owen laid their granddaughter in her arms after Belanna had hugged Betty. Tom had returned to the top of the ramp and disappeared back inside the ship.

Soon, Tom returned with Chakotay. Together they walked down the ramp and Chakotay walked into the waiting arms of Leann. Turning, they watched Kathryn appear at the top of the ramp. A hush came over the crowd as she began her descent. Gretchen started slowly up the ramp, and the two met halfway. Kathryn threw herself into her mother's waiting arms. A clap was heard, then another and another until everyone was clapping. Chakotay took Leann's hand and together they went up the ramp to where the mother and daughter was standing.

Once there, Chakotay took Kathryn into his arms and kissed her while the crowd went wild. When they pulled away they continued to stare into each others eyes with such love that Gretchen knew immediately that she had been right. Much of Kathryn's happiness and strength was coming from Chakotay. Those two people so different but so much alike had found each other, just like Gretchen, Juan and Leann.


End file.
